The Best Accessories for Your iPhone and iPad

Updated September 10, 2018

We’ve trimmed this piece to contain only picks that do not have their own guide. You can find all of our accessory coverage here.

Your guides

Dan Frakes

Nick Guy

Wirecutter Staff

Here at Wirecutter, we’ve spent hundreds of hours over the past few years finding the best iPhone and iPad accessories. Though those devices are our favorite smartphone and favorite tablet, respectively, they can do a lot more—and they can help you do your favorite things better, longer, and more safely—with the right add-ons. We have many guides to different accessories with comprehensive test notes. But we also have some great recommendations that don’t yet have their own piece, so we’ve collected them all here.

Apple sells a number of iPhone and iPad models; we’ve indicated specific compatibility, when necessary, throughout this guide.

Waterproof gadget pouches

Buying Options

A $50-plus custom-fit, waterproof case for each of your gadgets is overkill if you need only occasional protection from the elements when you’re enjoying the beach, camping, lounging next to the pool or tub, or cooking in the kitchen. In these situations, a simple waterproof gadget pouch is enough. We’ve tried dozens of them over the years, and our favorite is Loksak’s eminently affordable aLoksak—a two-pack of pouches that fit the iPhone 6 costs less than $10.

Made of a type of polyethylene film, aLoksak bags are watertight and airtight, and while they’re officially “disposable,” their zip closure lets you open and reseal them over and over. (One Wirecutter editor has used an aLoksak daily for months, with an iPhone 6 Plus at the gym and while listening to music in the shower at home, and it’s still in good shape.) The bag will remind you of a Ziploc, but one that’s sturdy and watertight enough that you’ll feel comfortable entrusting it with your expensive electronics.

An aLoksak is thick enough to resist tearing while sitting next to your keys in your backpack but thin enough to let you easily use your device’s screen. While pouches like this (dozens use a similar design) offer a tougher build and a closure that’s less likely to pop open, they’re bulkier and more difficult to work with. The flexible aLoksak bags, in contrast, are comfortable to hold and allow you to tuck the excess material behind when, say, you’re using an iPad-sized pouch with your Kindle. The aLoksak is the only pouch out of the dozens we’ve tried that has both of these characteristics and remains consistently affordable. It’s also available across a full range of sizes: The company sells more than a dozen versions, from 3 by 6 inches (nice for an iPhone 6, 6s, or 7) all the way up to 12 by 50 (!), so you can find models for all of today’s popular phones, e-readers, and tablets—even those still in their own “everyday” cases.

Of course, aLoksak pouches aren’t survivalist dry bags. They use only a single seal rather than a double one, they lack a roll-top closure, and sharp objects will puncture them—they’re not designed for regular or extended underwater or extreme use. And because they’re essentially plastic pouches, they will rip under enough stress; a rigid case for extreme conditions has its merits. But for the kind of “I hope I don’t kill my phone on this beach trip” situations most people are more likely to find themselves in, an aLoksak is tough to beat. —Dan Frakes

Buying Options

AirPlay offers a great way to display your iOS device’s screen on a TV, but sometimes a wired connection is better. We haven’t found any great third-party options for physically connecting your iPhone or iPad to an external display or TV, owing in part to Apple’s MFi restrictions, but Apple’s own adapters work well. The company’s Lightning Digital AV Adapter and Lightning to VGA Adapter allow you to connect an HDMI or VGA adapter, respectively, to your iOS device while also letting you charge the device using its own Lightning-to-USB cable. However, given the high prices of these adapters, you might instead use the Apple TV, which itself connects to any TV or display with an HDMI cable and allows for AirPlay wireless streaming—and does a whole lot more—for another $19.

iPhone dock (that also works with iPads)

Buying Options

You can set your iPhone on your desk and plug it in to charge and sync, but a dock—a cradle or a similar accessory that holds your phone upright while it’s charging or syncing—is a nice upgrade.

Over the past few years, I’ve tested more than 25 docks for the iPhone 5, 6, and 7, and Twelve South’s HiRise 2 Deluxe for iPhone & iPad (also available in a non-Deluxe version that ships without the required cables for about $20 less) is easily my favorite. This attractive and stable dock works with any Lightning-connector iPhone (bare or in almost any iPhone case, including battery cases), keeps your phone’s headphone jack (assuming it has one) accessible, and—my favorite feature—makes one-handed docking and removal of your phone easy. It’s the only dock I’ve seen that has all of these characteristics, and it can even hold an iPad mini or iPad Air.

The HiRise 2 Deluxe is available in white, silver, or black, and its weighted base is large enough, at roughly 4 by 3½ inches, to keep even an iPad Air stable. A pedestal to hold your device sits in front of a taller pillar that supports the back of the phone or tablet. When assembling the HiRise, you choose whichever of three pedestal inserts puts the included Lightning cable’s plug in the best position for your device: low for a phone with no case, medium for a thin case, or high to reach into a thick case. You can also adjust the support pillar to match the thickness of your device or its case.

The HiRise, as its name implies, raises your phone—about 2 inches off the base—and angles it back slightly, allowing you to view the phone’s screen easily while it’s docked, and even to use the iPhone for FaceTime calls. Nothing sits behind your phone while it’s perched in the HiRise, so you can easily wrap your hand around the phone and use your thumb to interact with its screen. And because the HiRise doesn’t use a traditional cradle designed specifically for one phone model, you won’t have to buy a new HiRise if you upgrade to a new phone.

(A nice bonus is that you can also use the HiRise to charge other Apple accessories that use the Lightning connector, including the Magic Mouse 2, Magic Trackpad 2, Magic Keyboard, and Pencil. Each of these sits nicely on the HiRise while charging, with no adjustment necessary.)

Finally, if you keep your iPhone in a battery case—most of which have a Micro-USB port on the bottom for charging and syncing—the HiRise Deluxe includes a matching Micro-USB cable. Swap that in place of the Lightning cable, and you can dock your battery-case-equipped iPhone. The HiRise Deluxe is the most versatile and most thoughtfully designed dock you can find.

Buying Options

For better or for worse, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus lack a traditional headphone jack, requiring you to use Lightning-connector or Bluetooth headphones or to rely on Apple’s Lightning to 3.5 mm Headphone Jack Adapter with traditional (3.5 mm plug) headphones. But what if you want to use your favorite wired headphones and charge your phone at the same time? Apple’s official solution—and the best one available right now—comes in the form of the iPhone Lightning Dock. Place your iPhone 7 or 7 Plus (or any other Lightning-connector iPhone) on the dock—it works with most thin cases—and you can plug your Lightning-connector charging cable and your 3.5 mm headphones into the dock itself simultaneously. We expect to see a good number of similar items from third-party vendors over the next few months, but right now this is your best option.—DF

Portable iPad stand

If you want to watch video on your iPad without holding it in your hands, to type on an external keyboard, or to use the tablet while cooking in the kitchen, you need a stand. Your favorite iPad case might double as a stand, but if not, you have scores of options for dedicated stands. The trick is to find a sturdy model that resists tipping over or shaking too badly when you tap the iPad’s screen but also makes inserting and removing the tablet easy. Ideally, it will look nice, too. And for a portable stand, it also needs to be light and packable. I’ve tested dozens of tablet stands, and a few of them impress.

Buying Options

For portable use, it’s tough to beat Kanex’s Foldable iDevice Stand. Although this stand weighs less than an ounce and folds flat, it offers three angles and a surprisingly sturdy design. At the most extreme lean (63 degrees from horizontal), if you tap near the top of a full-size iPad’s screen (in portrait orientation), you get some wobble, but considering the stand’s size compared with an iPad’s height, that’s impressively stable. The Foldable iDevice Stand accommodates all but the thickest iPad cases, and it also works great with an iPhone for hands-free video watching or FaceTime calls—or with a Kindle or other e-reader.

Also great

Buying Options

If you don’t mind having about 7 ounces of additional weight in your bag, and absorbing a higher price, Twelve South’s Compass 2 Mobile Stand is a nice upgrade. Machined from heavy-gauge steel with rubber bumpers to protect your tablet, the Compass 2 is the size of a few pens when you collapse it for travel; when you expand this model, easel-style, it offers more stability than the Kanex stand, especially with an iPad in portrait orientation. The Compass 2 is also a lot more attractive and available in multiple colors, and it offers a nifty low-angle position for on-screen typing and easier flat-on-the-desk viewing. Twelve South also sells the Compass Pro, which the company says is more stable for the larger 12.9-inch iPad Pro. —DF

Buying Options

If your hands-free iPad use will be mostly in one location—say, on a desk or on the kitchen counter—you can sacrifice portability for stability. Few stands are as sturdy, stable, and versatile as Heckler Design’s @Rest Universal Tablet Stand. Made of nicely painted heavy steel, the @Rest offers 30- and 60-degree viewing angles; you choose the angle and the depth of the “cradle” simply by sliding the included pegs into the correct slots on the stand, so changing the angle or tweaking the stand for a thicker case is quick and easy. Machined cable slots let you charge your iPad while it’s in the @Rest, and you can even use the @Rest with many laptops. (I’m typing this on a Bluetooth keyboard while my MacBook sits on the @Rest.) Dozens of stands have come across my desk over the past few years, but none has impressed me enough to give up the @Rest.

Also great

Buying Options

Of course, some people would prefer something a bit less conspicuous than the @Rest, and the Stump Stand is happy to oblige. Molded from a single piece of silicone (in a number of colors) with a metal weight inside for stability, the Stump Stand measures just 4 inches across but weighs nearly 9.5 ounces—heavy enough to hold even an iPad Air in portrait orientation with only a little wobble when you tap the screen. It accommodates most cases up to half an inch thick, and grooves in the stand provide three viewing angles: nearly upright, roughly 30 degrees from vertical, and a low position for typing on the screen. (The front of the Stump Stand even has a handy Home-button cutout.) The sticky-silicone base of the stand keeps it from moving, and it works with any tablet or phone. You can easily stash this solid stand away when you aren’t using it, and it’s even small enough to toss into your travel bag in a pinch. —DF

Game controller

iOS has become a serious gaming platform, but some game genres—such as platformers and first-person shooters—don’t lend themselves to a touchscreen’s relative inaccuracy and lack of tactile feedback. If you’re a fan of those genres, a game controller that looks much like the kind of controller you’d use for an Xbox or PlayStation is an appealing option. Playing iOS games using an Apple-certified MFi (for “Made for iPhone/iPad/iPod”) controller can make titles with frustrating controls fun, or elevate games you’re already enjoying to console-like heights, particularly when you hook your iOS device up to a TV via an HDMI adapter. MFi controllers also work with the current (2015, 4th-generation) Apple TV, turning the Apple TV into a legitimate gaming option.

Unfortunately, using an MFi controller has some drawbacks. First, such devices tend to be a lot more expensive than you’d expect—even compared with similarly designed (and sometimes higher quality) console controllers—likely in part because of the circuitry and process required to gain that MFi certification. Second, even though Apple added support for iOS game controllers years ago, developer support remains spotty: Adding controller compatibility is typically an afterthought for most iOS game developers, and even if a developer gives a game such compatibility, the developer rarely tests the feature beyond just making sure the game works with whatever MFi controllers happen to be on hand. Finally, the App Store doesn’t provide any way to search for or browse games that have controller support; instead, you need to carefully read each app’s description in the store or visit third-party websites for lists of compatible games. (AfterPad maintains a list of controller-compatible games.)

Buying Options

If, after reading those caveats, you still want a game controller, the Steel Series Nimbus Wireless Gaming Controller is the best one out there—unless you play games only on an iPhone. (If so, see the next pick.) We say this after testing at least a dozen models over the past few years. The Nimbus feels solid, is comfortable over long gaming sessions, and has the best set of buttons of any controller, offering fantastic analog sticks and ABXY, trigger, and shoulder buttons, along with good d-pads. Unlike most controllers, which use AA or AAA batteries, the Nimbus has a built-in rechargeable battery that charges via Lightning connector, so you can use the same cable and charger you already have for your iPhone or iPad. Steel Series rates the battery life at 40 hours of use on a charge; while we haven’t done formal battery testing, we regularly go a couple of months without having to charge the Nimbus.

The only real downside to the Nimbus is that if you play a lot of games on your iPhone, the Nimbus doesn’t have a cradle to hold the phone. If you need that, see the next pick.

Buying Options

If you play games only on the iPhone, and you want something that holds your iPhone while you play, your best bets are the Mad Catz C.T.R.L.i Mobile Gamepad and the Mad Catz Micro C.T.R.L.i Mobile Gamepad. Each uses two AAA batteries to provide upwards of 40 hours of playtime, connects to your device using Bluetooth, and features a lightweight, plastic, screw-on cradle to hold your iPhone or iPod touch while playing. (You can remove the cradle when using the controller with an iPad.) The company also offers an iOS app that displays the controller battery level and lets you manage firmware updates. The only difference between the standard C.T.R.L.i and the Micro C.T.R.L.i is that the latter is slightly smaller: If you have larger hands and prefer larger controllers, grab the C.T.R.L.i. If you have smaller hands, or if you want something a bit smaller for easier packing, go for the Micro C.T.R.L.i.

Apple’s MFi process guarantees that all certified controllers have the same game compatibility, the same capabilities, and roughly the same control layout, so you won’t find many functional differences between these models and any other MFi controller. (Technically, controllers can have one of two possible button layouts, Standard or Extended, but most recent controllers use the latter.) If you’re not wild about paying $50 to $60, MFi controller deals seem to pop up regularly online. With some patience, or the willingness to pick up a refurbished unit, you can get an MFi controller for around $40. —Eli Hodapp, TouchArcade.com; Dan Frakes

Camera adapters for iPad

In the early days of the iPad, many people relied on stand-alone cameras without Wi-Fi for most of their photography. While many of those folks have since switched to smartphones for a majority of their photo shooting, some people still need a way to get images and video from a camera to an iPad over a physical connection. Apple’s own options are the only real way to go here: The company hasn’t permitted other vendors to make MFi-licensed alternatives, and the uncertified third-party options all receive poor reviews. (The following adapters work only with iPads, unfortunately.)

Buying Options

Buying Options

Apple’s Lightning to SD Card Camera Reader is a simple dongle that plugs into the Lightning-connector port of any recent iPad. The other end has a slot for standard-size SD cards. Insert a memory card, and a gallery of its contents appears on the iPad’s screen, letting you transfer any or all of the pictures to the Photos app on your tablet.

The Lightning to USB Camera Adapter works similarly, but instead of an SD card slot, it provides a standard USB port, allowing you to connect your camera to your iPad using the camera’s own USB cable and then import photos and videos from the camera to the iPad. However, this adapter has some additional, if unsupported, functionality: It also lets you connect several other types of USB accessories, including wired keyboards (both the kind for typing and the kind for music), microphones, flash drives, or even an iPhone—though only devices with low power draws will work. Again, this is an unsupported feature, so your mileage may vary, but it does work well with many items. -NG, DF

iOS thumb drives

For better or for worse, iPhones and iPads lack both a standard USB port and expandable storage. If you need to be able to access more video, music, or other files than your device can hold, or if you’d like a quick and easy way to make a local (read: not iCloud) backup of photos and other content, your best option is an iOS-compatible flash drive. These accessories have a standard USB Type-A connector on one side and a Lightning-connector plug on the other, letting you plug them into both your computer and your iOS device. They also come with iOS apps for transferring and backing up data. After testing eight such drives, we’ve found that the best model for most people is Transcend’s JetDrive Go 300, which is available in 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB capacities.

Buying Options

When researching drives, we ruled out models that don’t support USB 3.0 transfer speeds—the difference in price is minimal (some USB 2.0 models were actually more expensive than some USB 3.0 models), and USB 3.0 makes transferring a bunch of photos or videos to or from your computer much faster than USB 2.0. We also dismissed drives that won’t let you connect to an iPhone or iPad in a case; although not everyone puts their phone or tablet in a case, we wanted a drive that everyone can use. This process left us with six models to test further. We ran speed tests on both the Lightning and USB connectors, using an iPhone 6s Plus (with plenty of free storage space) and a 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro, respectively. On the Mac, we used Blackmagic Design’s Disk Speed Test to measure read and write speeds. Across three test runs, the JetDrive Go 300 had the highest average write speed, at 41 MB/s, along with the second highest read speed, at 119.7 MB/s. (Emtec’s iCobra was a bit faster, reaching 130.7 MB/s, when reading data.)

Because iOS offers no way to measure read and write speeds, we had to rely on manual testing to assess performance when each drive was connected to our test iPhone. Each company provides its own app for working with and moving data, so we used each drive’s app to copy a 3.6GB video file to and from the drive multiple times, timing each transfer. The JetDrive Go 300 wasn’t the fastest in either test (copying data to or from the drive), but its performance was around the average of all drives for each; in no scenario was it the slowest for Lightning-connector transfers. We also found Transcend’s app relatively easy to navigate—the drives with faster Lightning-connector performance had more-confusing apps. (The more expensive JetDrive Go 500 has the same features as our pick but comes in a sleeker package.)

Transcend's free JetDrive Go app is one of the simplest to use among those we tested. It presents all its features in an easy-to-navigate layout, rather than using the convoluted menu systems of some of the competition. You can easily see what’s on the JetDrive Go 300 and what’s on your phone, play your media, and even automatically back up your device’s camera roll.

Our first sample of the JetDrive Go 300 failed on the USB end. A second unit hasn’t had similar issues over extended testing, and we haven’t seen user complaints about such a problem, so we’re fairly confident that our initial drive’s failure was a rare occurrence.

Buying Options

If the JetDrive Go 300 goes out of stock or jumps in price, we like SanDisk’s iXpand as an alternative. Its app crashed a couple of times during our video-transfer tests, which was frustrating, but it was a full minute faster than any other model at copying data over USB 3 to the iPhone, and its app was the easiest to use.

Wirecutter is a list of wonderful things by Brian Lam and friends, founded in 2011 and a part of The New York Times Company since 2016. Have a question? Just ask.